 xN                                                                            been searching for years to come up with a good way to print out catalogs from disks and tapes.  I have seen the double and triple column catalog programs, but you OMAHA ADAM USERS CLUB NEWSLETTER DEC/JAN 90 PKG# 33

                       Norman R. Castro, Founder

     This is your 33rd newsletter which I plan on passing out on 5 Dec as part of Package 33.  Thanks for your confidence and support.  The OAUC is a local club only with fees of $20 per 6 issues (PKGS w/prgms) received.  NOTICE: I will sell to any `Paid Up to Date' local member any six back issues (1 years worth $20) w/programs (on your media) for $15.

     NOTICE:  To the general public and former OAUC members if you want just this newsletter mailed to you (First class) I will for $5 per year to US mailing address and $8 (dollars, US currency), to foreign countries.

     DISCLAIMER NOTICE:  Neither the editors, OAUC, members, nor any of the authors of any articles nor any contributors of any capacity nor any of the other AUG's or ADAM newsletters reprinted herein make any representations or warranties expressed or implied, as to the accuracy, safety, or utility of any material or information contained herein, whether from OAUC, other AUGs or newletters, either by interpretation, use or misues.  Futher, those above mentioned accept no responsibility for any losses or damages, direct, indirect, incidental or consequential resulting for the application, use, misuse, interpretation, etc. of the information & material contained herein.

     If you or anyone wants a FREE copy of this newsletter just send me TWO First Class postage stamps ONLY to:  Norman R. Castro, 809W 33rd Avenue, Bellevue, NE 68005.  Tell others of this offer ... Thanks ...

     LITTLE ORPHANE ADAM is a 24 hour BBS at (402) 455-8308.  This is a free BBS with full duplex, 7-1-E, auto line off (for ADAM).  His 1200 Baud is now in service.  The SYOP is our own Steve Dawes who has helped our club in many ways.

     Postage cost for my free samples have cost me over $30 this year.  This is why I ask for TWO 1st Class Postage Stamps for a copy of my newsletter & or samples of my game instructions.  Would you please start to send stamps with any inquiry that you may want from anyone, not just from me.  It is not encouraging to send information to all who ask for it without at least a stamp or two.  I have researched numerous ADAM newsletters to find an answer to a problem etc.  I don't mind providing a service, just don't expect my paying for this privilege.  Thanks...This could be your New Years resolution.

     This is from METRO, 1003 Oak Lane, Apoka, FL 32703 @ $12 year. Their Sep issue contains part 4 on 'Learning with LOGO'.  These articles & how to are very usefull.

     When you unpack your disk drive, SAVE THE STYROFOAM CONTAINER.  It will be handy later when you need to transport your drive for some reason.  And when you do have to move your drive, the experts advise you to insert a disk and close the drive so that the head doesn't rattle around and get damaged.  (Please note:  it is exactly the opposite for double-sided drives.  With a DS drive, leave the latch OPEN so that the heads don't knock against each other.)

     Organizing your disks is easier with color-coding.  Besides colored labels & containers, you can also get colored disks.  The best source for these is DISKS & LABELS TO GO, Route 206, East Hampton Business Park, Mt.  Holly, NJ, 08060.  Phone 1-800-426-3303.  They carry 17 colors & are sold in lots of 20 (1 color per lot) and costs just 41 cents each.

 (Metro continued) It is also very handy to put two programs that belong together on the same disk.  For example, I have PowerPAINT on the front of a disk & CLIPPER on the back.  I also have SpritePOWER on the front of another with FontPOWER on the back.  Obviously, you would not want to do this with any important file UNLESS YOU HAVE MADE BACKUPS.  ... On the other hand, this homemade notching business is timeconsuming, and it's possible to destroy a disk if you are not careful with the hole pinch.  In short. it's a pain!  ..  On a hunch, I checked with DISK & LABELS TO GO, & guess what!  That's right, you can buy them from that company for 42 cents apiece.  It beats the tar out of doing it yourself.

     Ron Collins, 529 Grandview, Barberton, OH 44203 OR:  Akron Users BBS (216) 882-4720.  Use Ron's address to find software formerly distributed by Orphanware, including Tony Morehan's super patches and utilities.

     This from Puget Sound Adam Network, 22607 SE 322nd, Kent, WA 98042 @ $5 year.  WHAT IS STARLINK? by Bart Lynch.  ..It's a cheaper way for a modem-user to connect to all those long distance bulletin boards.

     Its principle of operation is simple.  Using your modem you merely call a Starlink BBS number.  That BBS then forwards your call to one in the destination city.  In turn, this BBS calls the one you wish to contact.  For example, say you wish to call the UP AN ADAM BBS.  You'd call your local number, then after logging in, you would type 2977.  That would be the 'code' for Seattle.  Then type 8592018, the number of my BBS.  What could be easier?

     First you must sign up for the Starlink service.  By voice, at 1-800-321-0156 or by modem at 1-800-343-7304. ...Allow 2 weeks for this contract to arrive.  Send it back in and in about a week you're all set.  ..  There is a one-time sign up fee of $35.  The service costs $10 per month with a $1.50 per hour of connect time.

     Is it worth it?  For someone like me YES!  I'd use PC Pursuit for 6 months and I believe this service is better.  PCP limits your calls to 30 per month.  Starlink has unlimited calls.  PCP reaches 30 cities whereas Starlink reaches 130!  .. I'd urge anyone who is serious about modeming to give Star- 
link a call.  You won't be sorry!

     ADAM KEYBOARD TIPS by Richard Bailey, reprinted from the June 1989 AWAUG Newsletter.  For anyone who's having keyboard troubles:  my 1,a,z,9,i, and a few other keys stopped working today.  The same keys has stopped working once before, but somehow started working again. Anyway, tonight, figuring I might have to replace the whole keyboard, I got a spare that I had picked up at Radio Shack a few years ago.  I noticed on the diagram that came with it, that the bad keys were all on the #1 cable, so I opened the keyboard case to see if a wire was broken or something.  Surprise!  I have never seen so much dust & dirt.  I cleaned it all out.  Also, I cleaned out a metal case that's attached to the bottom of the keyboard.  Now, everything's working fine.

     Reedy Software has a new address and a new game for ADAM.  Their new address is PO Box 129, Lowell, MI 49331.  Their new game is called DRAGON, The Chinese Challenge.  This is a strategy game requiring the player to clear a board of 144 layered tiles.  It plays similar to Activision's popular game SHANGAI.  Available for $17.95(disk) or $19.95(datapack) + $2.50 S/H.

     REPLACEMENT GAME BOARDS from Robert Leach.  On a recent order to Jameco Electronic , 1-415-562-8097, & they require a minimum $20 order, I noticed that they had Coleco game boards for $3.  It turned out to be a working R80.  It tested out fine on EOS and 80CVU TDOS.  There was some interference on my color monitor in 40 columns but a perfect picture in the 80CVU.  .. They have over 700 boards in stock.  The 4th board in the 2nd order had a broken reset switch.  Overall seems like a cheap backup.

 This is from NIAD, PO Box 1317, Lisle, IL 60532 $19 year.  Recently received word from Keith Marner, editor of the UKAS Journal that Elliam Associates, PO Box 2664, Atascadero, CA, 93423, phone (805) 466-8440, still have available many CP/M format programs including:  WordStar 4.0 $125, Turbo Pascal $65, SuperCalc 2 $99 and dBASE II $150.

     E&T Software has just discovered that the SQUEEZE program that is offered on their utility disk with their 720K drives & conversions will not work with a multiple block directory 720K disk.  A patched version is ready & if you want this new version, send a blank 720K disk to E&T Software for the latest version free.

     From Dean Roades, editor & founder of 463 ADAM:  I have been searching for years to come up with a good way to print out catalogs from disks and tapes.  I have seen the double and triple column catalog programs, but you can't edit these.  A very simple solution has been in front of my face for quite some time, but I didn't see it until now.  SpeedyWrite has the capa- 
bility to capture anything on the screen to the current workspace.

     All you have to do is: 1)catalog the disk or tape. 2) Press SHIFT + SmartKEY IV. 3)Press ESCAPE.  Now your catalog is in the workspace & can be edited, printed, stored, etc.

     This is from AIM, ADAM'S HOUSE, Route 2, Box 2756, Pearland, TX 77581 phone 1-713-482-5040 @ $20 year.  A CLOCK CHIP is now available for ADAM, & we should have them in stock soon.  The Chip plugs into the unused U8 socket on the Logic (Delta) board of the computer console.  When power is applied, a clock appears on screen.  Price approximately $40.  Installed for $50.

     This same manufacture is working on the IMAGE SCANNER dropped by E&T.  Prices will be about $175.  Another project is a AUDIO DIGITIZER that will allow a microphone to capture any sound input & save it to memory or media for use in your own programs.  Approximate cost is $70, but it and the CLOCK CHIP together will cost around $100.

     The SPRITE CHASER may not be published anymore.  The last issue published was in January, 1989.

     Letter from Arthur Hammell:  I am having some problems setting up Speedy-WRITE 2.  The program asks for the Printer Codes for my Panasonic Printer to make it run correctly, and the examples are a little hard to understand.  Can you supply the codes?

     ANSWER:  Type the following in answer to each question:  Code for 12 lines per inch - 27,65,5,10; Code for Boldface On - 27,69; Code for Bold- 
face Off - 27,70; Code for Italics On - 27, 52; Code for Italics Off - 27, 53.  Once these codes are entered when the program is first loaded you will not have to repeat the entry of the codes again.

     Letter from Gary Hoosier:  ..I was having a problem with the CPU typing characters endlessly in SmartWRITER until I booted some other operating system.  I finally found the problem!  After the problem reoccurred & I had the console apart twice, the problem turned out to be a BAD GAME CONTROLLER.  SmartBASIC does not accept input from the game controller keypads (unless programmed), but SmartWRITER does.  The game controller was shorted or has some dirt in it and was sending character input to the CPU!  The CPU was receiving periods from the game controller star, *, button.

 (AIM continued) INITIATING a disk will not allow 255 blocks of storage space even though the disk directory indicates it.  To properly INIT your disk, type this first (in the immediate mode): POKE 25305, 160 followed by the RETURN KEY.

     When a specific FILE on a Datapack cannot be ACCESSED, editing the directory can recover at least part of the file.  The procedure works by changing the length of the file just prior to the file named in the directory in block 1 so that when the files loads it will load all information speci- 
fied according to the length.  It will be necessary to delete the first file information, some codes or garbage, & possibly retyping a portion of the document.

     To create your own 2 BLCOK DIRECTORY, Poke a 2 into location 25308 (POKE 25308,2 followed by the RETURN KEY).  Then INIT your fresh datapack.

     SmartBASIC on datapack may be transferred to DISK using many copy utility programs (block numbers 0-29 are all that is necessary for the transfer).  However, SmartBASIC is CODED for use only with the tape drive. To change the code for DISK #1 use, EDIT BLOCK #18 on the disk, the second byte (08) should be changed to 04.  Disk drive #2 is coded 05, Datadrive #2 is 24.

     This is from ADAM LINK OF UTAH, 2337 South 600 East, Salt Lake City, UT 84106 @ $18-20 6 issues:  Trisyd Video Games now offers a 306K DDP (made from a C-60 audio cassette) and a 400K DDP (made from a C-90 audio cassette).  I also understand that the MEGACOPY software will be updated to make copies of these new DDP's

     Alan Neeley (hey! Is that me?) has refined the Auto-Answer device (originally designed for use with Coleco's internal modem & the A-NET soft- 
ware).  This device is now being built on a printed circuit board instead of the wire-wrapped method (making it easier to build & more reliable).  This product sells for $15 & soon will include 2 PD programs that will make use of it (a telecommunications program, and a phone monitoring program).

     Some of the A-NET systems have put up a special RLE graphic section labeled MISSING CHILDREN.  This idea (started by Rusty Gillott) centers around Compuserve's Missing Children section.  Users can download pictures of missing children & view them in hopes that they may recognize them & know where they are.  This idea is just another example of the versatility of the A-NET system.

     This is from COMPUTER ENTERTAINER, Video Take-Out, 5916 Lemona Ave, Van Nuys, CA 91411 @$25 year:  Epyx Software, originally known as Automated Simulations in the very early days of computer games, no longer exists as a developer & published of computer games.  The company, well known to gamers for such hits as TEMPLE OF APSHAI, the "Games" series (SUMMER GAMES, WINTER GAMES, CALIFORNIA GAMES, and others), IMPOSSIBLE MISSION and many more, drastically cut its staff by 90% last month.  ...The remaining ten staff members are all involved with the development of the hand-held color video game system which is nown as Atari Lynx, and these ten will continue to work with Atari on development of games for Atari Lynx.

     Next years OAUC meetings at the Bellevue Public Library should be on the following dates:  6 Feb, 3 Apr, 5 Jun, 7 Aug, 2 Oct, 4 Dec.  These dates still have to be confirmed.  Have a HAPPY HOLIDAY and New Year.  Norman... 
 
Norman R. Castro, 809 West 33rd Avenue, Bellevue, NE 68005 [402] 291-4405 
 
Video Take-Out, 5916 Lemona Ave, Van Nuys, CA 91411 @$25 year:  Epyx Software, originally known as Automated Simul
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